Vikings Sign 9 Undrafted Free Agents, Including Virginia Tech WR Tre Turner
After selecting six players on Saturday in the fourth through seventh rounds of the 2022 draft, the Vikings quickly got to work and signed nine undrafted free agents to round out their 90-man roster.
Here's the UDFA class, which was announced by the team:
- Mike Brown, S, Miami (OH)
- Thomas Hennigan, WR, App St.
- Bryant Koback, RB, Toledo
- Zach McCloud, OLB, Miami
- Josh Sokol, C, Sacred Heart
- Tyarise Stevenson, DT, Tulsa
- Tré Turner, WR, VT
- Luiji Vilain, OLB, Wake Forest
- Ryan Wright, P, Tulane
The biggest name of the bunch is Turner, who was ranked 215th on The Athletic's consensus big board. He got a 6th-7th round grade from The Athletic's Dane Brugler as well. Here's the scouting report from Brugler:
Despite poor quarterback play during his time in Blacksburg, he produced steady receiving numbers and finished fifth in Hokies history in catches (134) and receiving yards (2,292). Turner was a basketball-focused athlete much of his life, and that shows on the field with his ability to frame his grabs and finish through contact. While he uses tempo as a route runner, he will need to improve his attention to detail to overcome his lack of ideal physical traits. Overall, Turner’s lackluster play strength and separating skills are disappointing, but his above-average acceleration and ball skills will give him a fighting chance to earn an NFL roster spot, especially if he improves on special teams.
With the Vikings only drafting one receiver — Michigan State's Jalen Nailor in the sixth round — Turner and Hennigan will have a chance to compete for spots on the roster or practice squad.
Here's a fun fact: Turner and Hennigan starred together at the same high school, Northwest Guilford in Greensboro, North Carolina. Even better? Their high school mascot/name was the Vikings. Now they're teammates again and Vikings again.
Update: So much for that. Turner is signing with the Raiders instead, per Chris Tomasson. We’ll see if the Vikings sign a different receiver instead.
Vilain transferred from Michigan to Wake Forest to get more playing time and broke out with 9 sacks and 3 forced fumbles last season. He has NFL-caliber physical traits and received a whopping $227,000 guaranteed to sign with the Vikings, which is an indication that they had competition for his services. He figures to have a chance to stick around as well.
One player on that list only has to beat out one other player to make the roster and see instant playing time, and that's Wright, the punter. He averaged 47.5 yards per punt last season at Tulane and will compete with veteran Jordan Berry, who was only decent last year for the Vikings and is on a minimum contract with no guaranteed money. Berry obviously has a significant advantage in terms of NFL experience, though.
The standout of this group from an athleticism perspective is Koback, who posted a 9.74 relative athletic score (RAS).
Not a ton stands out about the rest of the group. McCloud was a captain at Miami and led them in sacks last season. Brown finished his college career at the other Miami school (the one in Ohio) with 18.5 TFLs and four picks. Hennigan was a productive receiver at App State. Sokol is an athletic center prospect from a small school. Stevenson is a huge DT at 352 pounds.
They'll all get a chance to impress alongside the Vikings' tend draft picks at rookie minicamp in a couple weeks.
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